Bake the Book: Bear Claws

Those of you who know how to make bear claws, raise a paw. Chances are you never have, so let The Model Bakery Cookbook teach you how. A base of croissant dough is filled with coconut, almonds, and cake crumbs, then garnished with more sliced almonds. It's an impressive-looking pastry that really isn't that hard to master.

Tips: The hardest part of this recipe is the croissant dough. Make it a day or so before you intend to bake the bear claws, which will give you plenty of time to mess up and learn from your mistakes. Croissant dough is dependent on having plenty of folds and pockets of butter in order to get that flaky, layered texture, so be sure not to let the raw dough get too warm while making the many folds.

Tweaks: If you're not a fan of coconut, don't feel bad leaving it out of this recipe. Sweetened shredded coconut adds a major dose of sugar, and if you're more of an almond purist, it detracts from the almond flavor. You can make up the deficit with more cake crumbs, if you so desire. For a quick, easy way to get cake crumbs, go to your local bakery and buy a couple unfrosted vanilla cupcakes and crumble them up.

As always with our Bake the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of The Model Bakery Cookbook to give away.